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Here is the news from the Village of the Damned « the people who live by the side of the A519
through Staffordshire are no longer classified as human beings.

We have become Receptors. I didn¶t really know what a Receptor was when I first read this county
council report on the road, but I do know now that as far as the council is concerned I¶ve mutated
into one. I¶ve become a Receptor.

All I could think of when I first saw the word in the report was that it was a guarded way of
indicating that people who live by the side of a main road are in a number of dangers other than the
one we face every moment of every day. That¶s the danger of 44 tonnes of tinted toilet tissue for
Timothy White and Taylors in Tintwhistle smashing through the wall of a house and burying its
inhabitants under the rubble of their children¶s inheritance.

Yes, we are now classified as Receptors and I can only conjecture that it¶s because we constantly
receive noise, air and mind pollution.

c  G   u Somebody or something adversely affected by a pollutant.


I think it is shocking that the report actually says ± and the brackets are theirs - µreceptors (i.e.
people)¶u Ñ 
       
  
    

    
   
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I don¶t know what HCV.s are either, it could be a spelling error for HGVs or it could be a guarded
reference to the Commercial Vehicle Society. HCV.s, perhaps it¶s a sort of secret code of the road
used by the people who dictate how much traffic passes within a metre of our front doors.

The health worries for your everyday Receptor are real enough, here¶s what the Division of
Respiratory Medicine at the University of Nottingham, sayu ³Any effect is likely to be most marked
among those who live within 150m of a main road, because this is the distance within which
concentrations of primary vehicle traffic pollutants are raised above ambient background levels.´

The report says that at 150 metres away from a main road the pollution of your lungs can be
increased by more than 90 per cent « well, most of us live within two metres of this busy, noisy,
polluting, dangerous main road, so what does that mean to us?

Then I came across the A519 ROUTE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY, LTP Inter -Urban Strategy
A519 From County Boundary near Newport to the A500 Interchange at Hanchurch, DRAFT
REPORT 1 OF 2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES REPORT=

 What sickened me ± apart from the mindless convolutions and total illiteracy of its title - as I went
through this major report was that the ancient village of Woodseaves ± a place of history, beauty
and mythologies, a tourism centre even - doesn¶t warrant a mention, not for speed or indeed for the
danger of living next to the white line on a racetrack for HGVs. High Offley however is highlighted
and so is Norbury, which is strange considering both of these villages are up to a mile away from
the tyranny of the A519.

Now, I do know that the council were identifying the A519¶s journey through the county by
parishes, i.e. High Offley parish, Norbury parish. However, Hanchurch given importance by being
used in the verbose title of the document is actually part of Swynnerton parish, and Newport, a
major market town actually outside the county, is granted the grace of having its name mentioned
too.

It really is almost as if the powers-that-be are trying to wipe Woodseaves off the face of the map,
probably on the front of a giant pantechnicon.

Then there was something else I discovered as I trawled the internet looking forlornly for
information that might give the Receptors of the Village of the Damned some hope for the future.

This what I found ± the Road Safety Foundation classes the A519 and its sister road, the A518
through Gnosall, as equally dangerous and the risk these roads put residents in are flagged the same,
³medium´.

The truth of the matter is simple - both roads are deadly. The combined death toll is horrendous but
at least something has been done for Gnosall and its close neighbour Haughton. They have traffic
calming measures, toughened pavements, speed watches, cameras, the support of the police, the
campaigning abilities of police officers and councillors combined, they have the clout of
Staffordshire Police¶s Mr Road Safety himself, Officer Les Dyble.

Remember? He¶s the one who told us, the non-humans in Woodseaves, that we should abandon all
hope« we could not beat the traffic. Officer Dyble managed to beat the traffic in his own village
and understandably had no wish for any of it to take a diversion from our road back on to his.

So, here¶s what he told usu



 
                  
  
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Officer Dyble was unimpressed. He left a few minutes later.

I wondered as he stepped back from my front door as a lorry almost turned him into bloody vapour
how impressed the chap up the road who found his son dead in a car crash outside his house would
be about this officer¶s findings? How impressed would the wife of the biker found dead in the gutter
a few years ago be? Or the farmer¶s wife whose husband lost the top of his head in a crash at the
crossroads?

It is feasible though that the highways department at Staffordshire County Council believes that
Gnosall is far worse off than Woodseaves ± after all, available council figures show that
Woodseaves gets 325 HGVs a day while Gnosall gets 2000.

Those figures just aren¶t true.

I did a very unscientific traffic count of my own at the Newport end of both the A519 and the A518
- 5.7 HGVs a minute hammered up the A519 whilst only 2.4 went up the A518. That¶s the truth,
Woodseaves is traumatised by more than 10,000 vehicles a day but Gnosall has just over 3,000 in
the same period.

Why oh why then are the council considering spending more and more money on calming the
traffic in Gnosall while we are getting nothing other than traumatised?

So, I continued trawling the net. Guess what I found « the national Speed Limits Organisation
claims that the A519 speed reduction to 30mph about 20 years ago was wrong.

The site saysu ³j  Eccleshall - Newportu NSL (60) - 50 for about 2 miles S of Eccleshall. A fairly
twisty section of A road where, unless you were really pushing it, you would be unlikely to exceed
50 except on a couple of stretches. And, given that police enforcement is likely to be nil, what is the
point? The 30 limits through Woodseaves and Sutton, and the 40 through Forton, have been
extended beyond what is reasonable.´

As I continued my journey along that great electronic highway in the sky this popped up ± Best
Biking Roads and guess which road gets a recommendation, you¶ve got it, the A519 through
Woodseaves. Bikers from all over Europe are told to come and show off their ability as riders right
outside my front door. I found a reference to the A519 on a German site too, then one in France and
another in Belgium.

Next was the Suzuki Owners Club which encourages members to visit the A519 as µthe road is
almost entirely undeveloped¶. The Fiat Owners Forum is of the same opinion. I don¶t think any of
the home owners on this road would describe it as µundeveloped¶ though.

So, to recap brieflyu

1. We are no longer human beings, we are Receptors


2. Our children are 90pc more likely to have respiratory problems
3. The name of Woodseaves does not appear in plans for the future
4. The council say things can only get worse here
5. The police say truckers have more rights than Receptors
6. The speed limit organisation says it¶s debatable if Woodseaves actually needs a 30mph limit
7. Bikers across Europe converge on our village for rallies
8. Despite all the deaths along the A519 we are only classed as of µmedium¶ risk
9. Suzuki owners think our road with all its houses is µundeveloped¶
10. So does the Fiat Owners Forum
11. Gnosall has about one third of the traffic problems Woodseaves does
12. Gnosall is still seen as the priority

Finally, for now, let¶s visit Mr Bill Cash, MP for the Village of the Damned. Mr Cash said in a letter
to me that he is actively looking into the problems of the A519 and would get back to me as soon as
possible.
That was 22 years ago and I¶ve heard nothing. So on October 12, 2010 I contacted one of his
representatives who saidu ³Oh, I¶m sure he¶s just forgotten about the letter after 22 years.´

I agreed that that was probably the reality of the situation. However, I did point out that Ol¶ Bill,
megaphone in hand, uses this road as part of his campaign every time there is an election.

Anyway, to bring you up to date, I actually spoke to Bill at the House of Commons and he agreed to get
back to me with a view to appearing on my show Postcard from Poprad on RTI.fm to discuss the road.

That was eight weeks ago and yes, you¶ve guessed it, I¶m still waiting for a reply. 22 years and eight
weeks now.

However, this is what Bill promised the people |(i.e. Receptors) down the road in Slindon.

Press release 05/08/09

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If there is anybody anywhere in the world who is suffering the same as we are in Woodseaves, get
in touch, let¶s talk and see what we can do. Email me on leighgb@btinternet.com

= During the three year period 1996. 1998, 1200 personal injury accidents involving heavy goods
vehicles (over 3.5t GVW) were reported in Staffordshire, costing the community some £77 million.
Government consultation has confirmed the concerns over the damage to road surfaces caused by
heavy lorries. The 1999 National Road Maintenance Condition Survey, of which Staffordshire¶s
roads form a part, has indicated that the country¶s road network is in its worst condition since the
survey began around 30 years ago.


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= The permissible load that lorries can carry was raised to 40 tonnes in 2000. As a result, è 
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the government instigated a programme of assessments for bridges. If we find deterioration of
a bridge during a routine inspection, we may also carry out an assessment to see whether we need to
take steps to put a weight limit on the bridge, to protect both the public and the bridge.

An assessment involves a detailed on site inspection taking measurements, details of the


condition of the bridge and samples of materials. We then work out whether the bridge can safely
carry 40 tonnes.

If we find that a bridge cannot safely carry 40 tonnes, we then decide whether to strengthen it, or
part of it, or whether we need to rebuild it completely.

In the short-term, we may put a temporary weight restriction on the bridge. We sometimes use
concrete barriers or traffic lights so that traffic crosses the bridge in a single lane and avoids weak
areas of the bridge. We also sometimes reduce the number of vehicles that can cross the bridge at
the same time.


      
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